


A 10 Million and Two Dollar Date

by CatLovelace



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Atlas CEO Rhys, Fluff and Humor, From the Borderlands Gift Exchange 2018, Kissing, M/M, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 04:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18612874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatLovelace/pseuds/CatLovelace
Summary: Rhys is the frustrated CEO of Atlas who lost the company pool and has to go on a blind date.  Handsome mercenary Axton is who shows up.  Too bad no one removed Hyperion’s 10 million and one dollar bounty from Rhys’ head





	A 10 Million and Two Dollar Date

Though interesting to learn Pandora was within radio frequency of a classical station, Rhys really didn’t have time for this. He hadn’t even been aware that his name had even been in the Atlas Lottery. Certainly not the “win a blind date” one. This felt like a Vaughn move to get him out of the office.

For solace Rhys smuggled in some work to discreetly do in the modified conference room. He kept a channel open to Cassius so their infantile production didn’t come to a complete halt. Why did he even humour this date nonsense at all?

“I’m here! Just point me in the right direction!” A deep voice called from down the hallway. Rhys sighed and mentally began to prep excuses for ducking out after his required half an hour. He even started a timer on his ECHOeye. Loud bootsteps echoed closer. Let’s see who this distraction was. Hopefully not an ex. Out of this whole mess that would be the worst ribbon to tie it all together.

The private conference doors were literally kicked open.

“Hello? Looking for the luckiest bastard on the planet.” A blond man about the same age as Rhys strolled right in. He wore old DAHL commando gear. Plus a small, satin bow decorated his neck above the gleam of a dog tag. 

“Sorry. Wrong room then.” Rhys raised a singled well-groomed eyebrow. This didn’t dissuade the man at all.

“Shame. Guess I’ll have to make you into him. Name’s Axton.” He set a large box down in front of his chair then threw himself back into his seat. “Charmed yet?”

Rhys finally took his eyes off the odd box this guy was using as a footstool to level him with a cool look. “Surprisingly not.”

Half a lie because this man was gorgeous. If Atlas wasn’t knee-deep in trying to survive its fiscal quarter Rhys might even be able to enjoy himself. 

“Look…” Rhys recrossed his long legs, then cleared his throat and put his best Boss Voice on. “You seem nice enough.”

“The best if you get to know me, darling.”

“Right. Look we just have to keep this going for thirty minutes then I can remove my name from the company lottery.” Hopefully for good if he, again he was the CEO, had anything to say about it.

“Seven minutes in heaven wasn’t ambitious enough?”

“What? No. Listen to me.” He indicated a mechanical finger between the two of them. “This was a mistake, but I’m trying to be a nice boss and go along with some of it.”

Axton slowly leaned forward till there wasn’t much space between them. “Right to the point, dedicated to his people’s morale, and cheekbones?” His smile was delighted and crooked. “Aren’t you my type boss man?”

Rhys knew he was pouting, but this guy just didn’t turn it off. Before he could retort the blond flirt kicked that strange box of his out from under the table. 

“So let’s get this over with.” 

In that moment Rhys realised how stupid and distracted he had been. The feed to Cassius had been silent for far too long, he hadn’t heard his employees nearby for a while, and why hadn’t he scanned box before now!?

His ECHOeye was up and active in time to scan his assassin’s turret. He quickly leapt into its subroutine to do some fast patch coding. It stalled and stuttered under the swift hack. A low whistle then a gun was pressed against Rhys’ temple.

“Impressive enough to give the Mrs. pause.” His finger taut against the trigger. “But your cheekbones and legs won’t stop me from taking you in.” The only sounds in the room came from the struggling turret still under Rhys’ hack. Rhys himself felt a cold bead of sweat run down his face. Something on this guy was limiting his communication channels to only nearby frequencies, but there wasn’t anyone nearby!

“I… I didn’t think Atlas was big enough yet to warrant a bounty hit yet.”

“I’m a simple man so all this power grab stuff tends to fly over my head.” Axton shifted his stance. “Not surprised to hear Hyperion wants to crush an old rival though.”

Something bright and surprised bubbled in Rhys’ chest. 

“Um, did you say Hyperion?”

“Yeah and if this is you stalling then a striptease would be way more effective, honey.” Small giggles of disbelief slipped from Rhys’ lips. “Not the strangest reaction I’ve seen to being held at gunpoint.” Rhys covered his grin the best he could.

“Are you new to Pandora?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Death of Handsome Jack ring any bells?”

“Yeah I was there. Along with other buff guys, two sirens and a high schooler too, it was wild.”

“But you still thought Hyperion’s bounty was a thing?” 

“The company and its stock options still were. That and the spaceship.”

“You check the sky around Elpis recently? Like within the last year?”

“Hey spaceships can move, sweetheart!”

“Did Helios seem particularly mobile!?”

They both stood panting a bit. Rhys obliged the confused man by releasing his turret to shut down back into its (her?) box. Axton shifted his stance to rub the bridge of his nose.

“So in summary… There’s no money at the end of this job?” 

“As you are literally standing in the remains of Hyperion… chances aren’t great.” Rhys gave a half-shrug in sympathy. The mercenary fully dropped his gun to his side. He began to really dig into his growing headache. 

“I really got to pay more attention to my surroundings.” At this point Rhys was openly giggling. Axton looked peeved for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “Well Plan A just got eaten by a Kraggon.” He fell back into his chair. Rhys shook his head as his chuckles died down. Once the awkwardness caught up with him Rhys coughed to clear his throat. He ran his mechanical fingers through his hair. 

“So… should I run now or…?” Axton snorted at that. He had pulled out an oily rag and was polishing his gun. 

“How much time do we have left?” He asked after a moment.

“What?” 

“You said ‘we have to keep this going for thirty minutes’. So how we doing on time?” Rhys blinked before pulling up the timer on his ECHOeye.

“Seventeen minutes.”

“So since I’m not going to get paid and you still have time…” He set his gun on the table and stalked forward. “Let’s go to Plan B and just get to the good part already.” 

Though Rhys definitely had the height advantage here, Axton seemed to loom dangerously over him. His former assassin did make a tantalizingly good point. They both hovered their lips breaths apart from each other.

“Yeah… sure… sounds good…” Rhys distractedly murmured before leaning in the rest of the way. Immediately the broader man pulled the two of them flush together. He gripped the back of Rhys’ neck firmly and slowly dragged his short, unkempt nails. His other hand pressing insistent and strong on the lanky man’s lower back. Rhys for his efforts slid his hands up to rest Axton’s solid pectorals. 

When they broke apart for air Axton tugged them further up on the table. Rhys straddled his lap and wrapped a long leg around the mercenary’s waist. He reached up with his right hand and tugged his date’s collar open, crushing the satin bow tie with an odd pop. 

Curious he looked down to see a small disc in pieces.

“Is this a frequency jammer?” Axton had favoured ignoring the distraction and peppering Rhys’ neck with little bites. 

“Hm? Yeah.” His voice dropped into a breathy husk. Rhys could call someone now. Cassius’ feed was back as well as general updates from Atlas as a whole. Hell Vaughn would probably be there almost instantly if he messaged him about a bounty hunting Vault Hunter as his blind date. Rhys looked back to Axton. Back to his warm green eyes. Back to his crooked grin the smug bastard. 

The bow was tossed somewhere over his shoulder.

Rhys began to pull and tug back at Axton’s buttons while in turn Axton did the same to him. At this point both of Rhys’ legs were latched tightly around his date’s waist. Maybe a little dry humping from both of them. 

And maybe reset his date timer on his ECHOeye. Several times.


End file.
